Chapter 31

Jonathan's eyes blinked rapidly from the glare of the flashlight beam
that Willow was shining in his eyes.

"Well, well, well, Jonathan Levinson.  Looks like somebody had a
falling out with his partners in crime," she said in a theatrical
voice.  "And I suppose you think we should untie you, don't you?"

Jonathan nodded his head eagerly and made little mmmmphing noises
through his gag.

"And why would we want to do that, since you've gone all evil and
stuff?"

"Mmmmph, mmmmmmmmph," Jonathan said.

"Uh, Will, if we're going to question him, we should probably remove
his gag," Xander said.  "Maybe he knows where Warren took Buffy and
Spike."

"Mmmmmph!" Jonathan said excitedly, nodding his head in emphasis.

Willow frowned and then narrowing her eyes said, "Okay, but if you
don't say anything helpful, I'm regagging you and leaving you here
for the rats to eat."

"Mmmmmmph!"

Willow knelt down, picked at a corner of the duct tape fastened over
Jonathan's mouth and the pulled.  Hard.

"Ow,"

"Okay, if you have something to say, spill it, mister, or *this*,"
she shook the limp and slightly damp strip of duct tape, "goes back
on your mouth."

"We have to get to Warren right away before he has a chance to put
his evil plan action," Jonathan said rapidly.

"What evil plan?" Willow asked.

"He's planning on making Buffy his slave."

"What, again?!  What is it with that guy and making Buffy his slave?"
Xander said in exasperation  "Didn't the beating he got the first
time teach him anything?"

"Yeah," Jonathan said, "it taught him to hate you, Xander."

"Well, that really concerns me," Xander said dryly.

"It should," Jonathan said.  "I think part of his plan is that once
Buffy's his slave, he's going to have her kill all of you.  Or maybe
he's going to have Spike do it.  I'm not sure about that part.  But
either way, he plans on you all being dead."

"Why?" Willow asked.  "Other than he's crazy."

"Willow, you need to untie me so we can get to Warren, okay?  I can
answer all your questions on the way."  Jonathan's voice had a hint
of panic in it.

"He's right, Willow.  We need to get to Warren right away."

"Okay, but if this is a trick, you're going to be very sorry,
Jonathan."

Jonathan looked into Willow's eyes and believed her.  "This isn't a
trick, Willow."

Willow looked over at Clem who had been standing quietly in the
background while the others talked.  "Okay, Clem, cut him loose."

Clem reached out a clawed finger and made rapid work of cutting
through the tape.  When Jonathan was free and standing, Willow
asked, "Now, where did Warren take Buffy and Spike."

"Warren discovered the plans to an abandoned military base that's
located under UC Sunnydale."

"The Initiative?" Xander yelped.

"Yeah.  Do you know about it?"

"Yeah, we destroyed it.  I thought Riley said the government filled
the base in with concrete," Xander said to Willow.

Willow shook her head in disgust.  "I always thought that sounded
fishy.  Do you realize how much concrete it would have taken to fill
that place in?  They probably just locked the doors and left."

"Pretty much," Jonathan said.  They were walking rapidly across the
warehouse floor headed towards the door.  "Warren had me do a spell
to locate a way in.  We were supposed to investigate tonight, but I
think Warren already knew what he'd find there.  And I think he and
Andrew went there this afternoon without me.  I think that's where
they got the taser guns."

"Told you they were like the guns The Initiative had," Xander
muttered.  Since Willow hadn't argued the point with him, she didn't
respond.

"So what does the base have to do with Warren making Buffy his slave."

"According to what I read in his journal, Warren plans to use some of
the technology he thinks they left behind to program a computer chip
to make Buffy do anything he says.  Then he's going to implant it
into her brain."

"A chip like Spike's?"

"I guess.  I don't know exactly how he plans to do it, just that's
what he has planned."

By this time, they were out of the warehouse and in the alley.  Clem
retrieved Willow's bag of magic supplies and said apologetically,
"I'm leaving now.  I'm not going anywhere near that Initiative
facility."

"That's okay, Clem.  Thanks for your help."  Willow gave their new
friend a big hug.  Clem blushed, waved goodbye, got into his car and
drove away.

Turning back to Jonathan, Willow asked, "So you know where the
entrance is that Warren used?"

Jonathan nodded.  They hurried rapidly down the alley to Xander's
car.  Enough time had been wasted.  Willow only hoped they would be
in time to stop Warren.

***

Pain.  At first that was the only thing that Buffy was aware of.
Pain from nerve endings that felt on fire and twitching muscles that
ached and burned.  As she fought to bring the pain under control, she
became aware that she was strapped to a hard cot or table.  Opening
her eyes slightly, she blinked at the bright lights.  When her eyes
adjusted she realized that she was in a white, sterile-looking room,
like an operating room or lab.  Hearing voices, she turned her head
in the direction the sound was coming from and saw Spike similarly
strapped down.  She was relieved to note that he appeared to be all
right.  Warren was talking to him.  Neither man realized that Buffy
was awake.

"I'm going to do you a favor, Spike," Warren was saying.  "I'm going
to take your chip out."

"Yeah?  And what do you expect me to do in return?"

"I expect you to die."

"No!"

Warren turned to see Buffy struggling at her restraints.  "Ah, Buffy,
you're awake.  Good.  You're just in time to see your boyfriend one
last time before I remove his chip and stake him."

"Warren, don't!  I swear if you hurt him, I'll kill you myself."

"I don't think so.  You see when I'm through with him, I'll take care
of you.  If you thought my cerebral dampener was fun, wait until you
see what I have planned now."  Turning away from the thrashing girl,
he called out, "Andrew, summon the Pockla now."

Buffy stretched her head to see Andrew put a pan flute to his lips
and begin to play.  A shimmering distortion appeared to his left and
seconds later a red-robed demon glided through a portal.  The portal
closed as soon as the demon entered the room.  It stood stiffly
staring straight ahead as if without a will of its own.

Andrew stopped playing the pipes, and began muttering in a language
Buffy didn't understand.

"You have it under your control?"

Andrew nodded and his face contorted slightly from the effort to
control the demon.

"Good.  You know what I want it to do."

Buffy began thrashing again, trying her best to break free of her
restraints.  Spike was doing the same.  But these straps had been
designed to hold the strongest demon and their efforts were useless.
Andrew continued muttering in the incomprehensible language.  The
demon approached Spike, lifted one grotesquely talon-shaped hand, and
slid it inside Spike's head.

Spike arched his body and screamed.

"Spike!"

Buffy doubled her efforts to break free watching in horror as the
demon fished around inside Spike's brain.  Spike continued his
agonized screaming until at last the demon retracted its hand.  A
tiny computer chip was clutched between two long clawed fingers.
Spike collapsed back onto the table and went completely still.

"Spike, oh god, Spike!"

Warren ignored both Slayer and vampire, went up to the demon and
retrieved the chip.  The gloating smile he turned on Buffy made her
blood run cold.

"Let me explain to you what I'm going to do," Warren said as he
walked over to a workstation containing a computer terminal.  "Not
long after we had to relocate to that warehouse thanks to you, I
found a box containing documents relating to a group called The
Initiative.  The information I gleaned from the documents was
interesting enough that I began to search for more information.  You
know I'm a genius, right?" he asked Buffy with a self-satisfied
smirk.  "Anyway, it really wasn't all that hard to locate and hack
into the files I needed.  And I found out all about their
experiments, Spike's chip and where the facility was located.  Of
course, the government had sealed off access to the facility, but
Jonathan was able to find us a way in."

As he talked, Warren was busy reading code that was streaming rapidly
on the monitor screen.  At certain points he would make changes,
erasing a line here, adding a line there.

"Anyway, I discovered the program that was used for Spike's chip and
as I read it, it occurred to me that it could be altered so that the
person or creature implanted with it could be robbed of their free
will, programmed to obey.  And the best part?"  Warren pressed a few
more keys and then sat back and watched as the program downloaded
into Spike's chip.  "The person will know exactly what they're
doing.  They just won't be able to stop themselves."  He turned
around in his chair and looked into Buffy's hate-filled face.  "Even
when they're murdering their best friends and little sister.  Or
dusting their vampire boyfriend."

"No," Buffy whispered.

"Oh, yes."  Standing up he walked over to her and backhanded her
face.  "I'm going to have so much fun watching you destroy everything
you love.  You should have just given me the blow job, Buffy."

Walking back over to the workstation, he ran a diagnostic to make
sure the new programming had been properly downloaded to the
chip.  "Now my only problem was I didn't have access to a chip that
could hold the programming and interface with a brain.  That is until
I thought of just using the one already in Spike's brain.  Andrew
solved my problem of how to get the chip out of Spike and into you.
I'm a genius, but I'm not a surgeon."

Removing the reprogrammed chip, he turned to Buffy once more.  "All
ready for your new programming, Buffy?"

Buffy just stared at him.  She wasn't going plead with him not to do
this.  She knew it would only give him satisfaction to hear her beg.
She could only hope that the programming was flawed so that she could
rip his head off as soon as he released her.

"Andrew, I'm ready for the Pockla to implant the chip."  Smiling with
cold anticipation, he added, "Oh, and Buffy, just in case you didn't
get it from Spike's reaction, this is going to hurt.  A lot."


tbc...

 

Chapter 32

"Are you sure this is the way?" Willow asked as she tripped over
another patch of uneven ground.

"I'm sure this is where the map indicated."

"Well I hope you have a better idea than just a general direction,"
Xander complained as he too stumbled over the uneven ground.  "'Cause
all I'm seein' are trees and rocks and the hillside."

"It's here somewhere," Jonathan insisted.  "We just have to find
it."  He hesitated for a second and then added, "It was probably
easier to find in the daytime."

Willow's ankle twisted slightly as she stepped on yet another of the
small rocks that littered the ground.  "Okay, that's it!  We've been
stumbling around here for fifteen minutes now.  We don't have time to
waste."  Handing the flashlight to Xander, she stood rigidly raising
her arms towards the heavens and started muttering in what Xander
took to be Latin.  At the end of the incantation, she twirled around
spreading out her arms.  "Ostendo!"

A wave of power was released from her hands like a strong wind
ripping through the forest.  Seconds later a faint greenish glow
emanated from a section of the hillside.

"Wow, Will.  Way to turn on the lights," Xander said impressed.

"Come on," she said taking back the flashlight and leading the way.
Jonathan followed behind the other two.  He had felt the power Willow
had pulled from the very air around them.  It had been so casual that
Jonathan doubted she even realized that she'd done it.  He began to
wonder whom he should fear more - Willow and her power or Warren and
his mad genius.  At this point, it was too close to call.

The glow came from the entrance to a cave.  Entering cautiously,
Willow shined the light around the cave finally locating a tunnel off
to the left.  Moving forward, she entered and was surprised when
within a few minutes she entered a chamber containing a large console
filled with computer equipment.

"Why would The Initiative have a set-up like this in a cave?" she
asked in puzzled voice.

"Beats me," Xander answered.  "But then I don't know why they did
most of what they did."  Searching around he noticed a doorway in one
of the walls.  "Look, Willow, I think that must lead into the base."
Going up to it he grinned and said, "When is a door not a door?"
Before anyone could answer he gave the door a slight push.  "When
it's ajar."

Willow rolled her eyes and moved though the now open doorway.
Shining the flashlight beam around she saw that she was indeed in a
hallway.  The light caught evidence of footprints on the dusty
floor.  Speaking quietly she said, "Okay, it looks like they came
this way all right.  Everyone keep quiet now.  We don't want to warn
Warren we're coming."  She finished her statement with a hard stare
at Jonathan.  He swallowed and nodded.  Okay, he was pretty sure that
he was more afraid of Willow right now.

Following the trail of footprints, they soon came upon another
doorway.  It too was slightly open and light shined around the
edges.  The faint sound of Warren's voice could be heard.  Willow
clicked off the flashlight and pulled the door the rest of the way
open.

***

"Andrew, I'm ready for the Pockla to implant the chip.  Oh, and
Buffy, just in case you didn't get it from Spike's reaction, this is
going to hurt.  A lot."

Andrew's face skewed into another expression of extreme concentration
as he forced his will on the Pockla.  The demon glided forwarded, its
talon-like hand reached out to take the small chip Warren held out to
it.  Taking it between two long claws, it turned to Buffy and began
to extend its hand towards her head.

"STOP!"

Andrew jerked and glanced up to the balcony that ran across the far
wall of the laboratory.  A moment of panic filled him when he saw
Willow, eyes dark and hair flying eerily around her head standing
there like an avenging wraith.  Behind her stood Xander holding a
crossbow and Jonathan looking scared to death.  His break in
concentration allowed the demon to regain its will and it lowered its
arm from Buffy's head.  A shimmering began behind it and it turned to
glide into the opening portal.

"Andrew, forget about them!  We're losing the Pockla," Warren
yelled.  He turned and ran back towards the console he had been
working at earlier.  Picking up his taser rifle, he aimed at the
intruders on the balcony.  Xander saw what he was doing and tackled
Willow shoving her out of the way of the weapon's discharge.
Jonathan dived in the opposite direction.  The sound of Warren's
voice brought Andrew back to his senses and he swallowed and began
concentrating once again.  The Pockla, unable to fight the summoner's
control, began to glide back towards Buffy.  Willow, pinned down by
the taser blasts watched in horror as the demon approached her
friend.

"Jonathan, can you do something about that demon?" she called out
desperately.  Jonathan peeked over the railing and saw his friend
hiding behind the table where Spike lay.  Not knowing what else to do
he called out, "Andrew, please stop it."

Warren aimed the blaster at Jonathan nearly hitting him.  As Jonathan
dived back it gave Willow the opportunity to lob a fireball at
Warren.  He dived out of the way and the fireball hit the computer
console sending flames shooting up towards the ceiling.  Before he
could take aim again, Willow lobbed another fireball at the demon as
it reached Buffy, engulfing it in flames.  It moved back, but the
flames did it no harm and quickly died out.  Another taser blast made
Willow jerk back once again.

"Damnit, guys.  I need help here."

Jonathan racked his brain trying to come up a way to help.  He wasn't
as strong magically as Willow and usually needed charms or his magic
bone to successfully cast a spell.  But desperate times...

Sliding along the balcony's floor trying to keep out of Warren's
sight, he got close enough to the railing to peer over.  Andrew was
still crouched down; his control now so fractured that it was all he
could do just to hold onto the demon.  It stood unmoving several feet
from Buffy.  Wrinkling his forehead in concentration, Jonathan began
to quietly chant a spell.

As Xander considered his options he realized that Warren had moved
into a position that actually gave Xander a shot with the crossbow he
held in his hands.  Carefully sighting his target, he pulled the
trigger.

Reaching the end of his incantation, Jonathan pointed and
uttered, "Quiesco."

Simultaneously two things happened.  The crossbow bolt hit the taser
rifle Warren held knocking it from his hand and Andrew slumped
unconsciously to the ground as the sleep spell took effect.

As soon as Willow saw that Warren was disarmed, she stood and
summoned another fireball.  Before she could throw it at him however,
Warren grabbed up the shattered crossbow bolt and rolled across the
floor until he came up against the table to which Buffy was
strapped.  Rising up, he grabbed Buffy by the hair, pulled her head
back and placed the sharp point of the bolt to her throat.

"Don't be stupid, Warren," Xander cried out urgently.  "No one needs
to die here."

Warren's laugh bordered on insane.  "You don't think so?  All of you
have done nothing but mess up my plans.  You think you can just do
that to me without paying?"

Drawing back his hand slightly, he prepared to stab the bolt into
Buffy's jugular.  Before he could begin the downward movement
however, his wrist was grasped in an iron grip.  The Pockla, now
completely free of Andrew's control, had silently glided up behind
Warren.  As it tightened its hold, Warren began to scream in agony.
He struggled helplessly against his captor, his cries echoing
throughout the room.  The demon's hand slowly tightened and it
appeared to the three watching from the balcony that its hand fused
right through Warren's wrist.  When the bolt clattered harmlessly to
the floor, Xander turned away gagging.  Warren's now severed hand
still firmly clutched the bolt's shaft.

The Pockla stared silently into Willow's eyes for several minutes and
then, still holding a now weakly pleading Warren, backed into the
reopened portal.  The portal closed after them and silence descended
upon the scene.

Xander wiped his mouth with a trembling hand.  "Why did it take
Warren?" he asked with a shaky voice.  Willow looked at her friend
and said coolly, "Poetic justice."

"Huh?"

"Hey, guys?" Buffy coughed as the smoke from the burning console
reached her.  "You wanna do something about that fire?"

Willow and Xander hurried to the end of the balcony and ran down the
stairs.  Reaching Buffy, Willow began to undo the restraints.  Xander
grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall and put out the fire.  When
he was sure it was completely out, he joined Willow at Buffy's
side.  "Shouldn't we try to get Warren back?"

"Why?"

"Because he's human?"

The last of Buffy's restraints was released and she sat up and swung
her legs over the edge of the table.  Rushing over to Spike she
snapped, "Who cares, Xander?  The lunatic is gone.  I don't really
care where the Pockla took him or what it does to him.  Now help me
get Spike untied."

Spike was still unconscious and Buffy gently slapped him
face.  "Spike?  Spike, honey, can you hear me?  Come on, Spike, wake
up now."

Spike's eyelids fluttered and he opened dazed-looking eyes.  Willow
and Xander had gotten his restraints unbuckled and Buffy helped him
sit up on the edge of the table.

"You okay?"

He looked at her blankly.

"Spike?"  Buffy voice shook just a little, frightened by the empty
look in his eyes.

He swayed a little and Buffy caught him up in her arms.  "We have to
get him home."

"What's wrong with him, Buffy?" Willow asked in concern.

"He... he was hurt in the fight," she prevaricated.  "Xander, get on
the other side and help support him."

Willow looked at Jonathan who had revived the sleeping Andrew.  "What
are we going to do about those two?" she asked Buffy.

Buffy turned to glare at the two remaining boys.

"Please, Buffy," Jonathan said nervously standing protectively in
front of Andrew.  "If you just let us go, we'll leave town and I
promise you'll never see us again."

"And I should believe you because?"

"Jonathan did help us find you, Buffy.  And he says the other kid was
totally under Warren's control," Xander told her.

"You promise to leave town and never come back?"

"I promise.  In fact we'll leave the country altogether.  Mexico or
Canada."

"Okay, Jonathan, take your friend and leave.  And believe me, you
don't want me to see you again."

Jonathan nodded nervously and led a still groggy Andrew in a hasty
retreat from the lab.  As they crossed the floor, Buffy heard a faint
crunching sound.  Leaving Xander to support Spike, she said, "Hold on
to him a minute.  I want to check something."  Searching the area
where the sound had come from, she found the crushed remains of a
small computer chip.

"What is it, Buffy?" Xander asked.

"The chip Warren was going to implant in my brain.  It's been
destroyed."

"Good."

"Yeah, good."

Standing up, she returned to Xander and took Spike's arm across her
shoulder.  "Come on, let's go."

As they made their way out of the lab, Xander asked, "Willow, what
did you mean by 'poetic justice'"?

"Warren's going to be an experimental lab rat."

"Huh?"

"The Pockla are like interspecies doctors.  And sometimes they deal
with humans, but they don't know that much about us.  So it took
Warren with it to study."

"Like a physical exam?"

"More like vivisection and amputation."

"It's going to kill him?" Xander asked in a slightly sick voice.

"Nah.  Whatever they do to him they can fix.  And then they can do it
all over again."  Willow's voice held a note of cold satisfaction.

"Jesus, Will," Xander whispered.  He hated Warren, but it was a
hellish fate.

Buffy looked at Willow curiously.  "How do you know this, Willow?"

"The Pockla communicated with me telepathically before it left," she
said with a shrug.

Buffy made no further comment.  She was too worried about Spike to
care about Willow mind-melding with demons or about what was going to
happen to the bastard who'd caused Spike's injury.

When they reached Xander's car, Buffy got into the back seat with a
still unresponsive Spike.  As Xander drove to her house, Buffy held
Spike's limp hand.  What if the Pockla had caused irreversible brain
damage?  Could a vampire get irreversible brain damage?  Surely he
would recover.

And when he did?  The chip was no more.  It lay smashed to silicon
dust on the floor of The Initiative lab and only she knew it.

What she didn't know was what she was going to do about it.

tbc
 

Chapter 33

Once again Buffy tucked an injured Spike into her bed.  By the time
she had his clothes removed and the covers pulled over him, he had
returned to his coma-like state.  It worried Buffy enough that she
considered calling Angel.  If Spike showed no signs of improvement
soon, she would.  Telling Angel that Spike had been injured by a
demon removing his chip may not be the best idea however.  She needed
to give serious consideration as to what she would tell him.  But not
tonight.  She was just too darned tired to even think about it
tonight.

After getting ready for bed, she slid in beside Spike and soon fell
into an exhausted slumber.  Sometime later Buffy came to groggy
awareness when she thought she heard Spike moan.  Opening eyelids
heavy with sleep, she turned over, raised herself on one elbow and
looked at him.  He was still lying in the same position.  There was
no sign that he had awakened and no sound came from him.  She reached
out and gently brushed one errant curl from his forehead and then
curled tightly up against him with her head on his shoulder.
Breathing in his musk, she drifted back into sleep.

***

Spike awoke to excruciating pain in his head and a burning hunger in
his belly.  Sitting up in bed, he looked around the room trying to
recall where he was and how he got there.  It was obviously a bedroom
in a house, but whose house?  Did he and Dru take over someone's
home?  No, wait.  Dru had left him for a Chaos Demon, hadn't she?
Why couldn't he remember?  He became aware of a body lying next to
his and turning his head, he was surprised to see blond hair instead
of dark.  Who was in his bed?  Whoever she was, she was lying on her
side, her back towards him and her face turned away.  A little more
clearing of his head and he picked up the heat and scent of a human
woman.  Who?  Another subtle sniff and he had his answer.

The Slayer!

Why the hell was he in bed with the Slayer?  Had he doped her up?
Rendered her helpless while he used her for his pleasure before he
killed her?  He couldn't remember and thinking about it only added to
the pain in his head, but he was sure of one thing.  He was starving
and here was a ripe, succulent plum just waiting for him to sink his
fangs into.

Releasing his demon, he pulled her hair away from her neck, carefully
positioned her head, lowered his mouth and bit deeply.

***

Dawn glanced at Buffy's closed bedroom door on her way out of the
bathroom.  She thought about knocking on it just to check up on
Spike, but she figured she'd only end up pissing Buffy off for waking
her up.  Spike would be okay.  He always got better.  Always.  Taking
one more glance at the closed door, she returned to her own bedroom
to get dressed for the day.

***

He sat in his chair, smoking a cigarette and waiting for the sun to
go down so that he could hunt.  His head ached horribly and his belly
was growling with hunger, burning with it.  He looked over in
surprise when the crypt door opened and a young, dark-haired girl
entered.  She sauntered over to the stone sarcophagus, threw her
schoolbooks onto it and hopped up.  Sitting with legs crossed, she
looked at him with a scowl on her face.

"I hate school," she said with a pout.  "All the kids treat me like
I'm weird or something and I'm really tired of it."

Who was this girl and why would she walk so casually into a vampire's
lair?  Not that he was complaining.  He'd just been thinking about
how hungry he was and here dinner delivered itself.  Standing up, he
drifted over to her.

"So you came here to rid yourself of all your troubles?"

The girl snorted.  "Yeah, like you could do anything to help me.  I
just came here to hang out for a little bit.  Buffy's in Spring
cleaning mode and I don't feel like going home and getting stuck
washing down walls."

"Buffy?" he asked, halting momentarily in his progress to the
girl.  "The Slayer?"

"Well, duh.  You know another Buffy?" the girl asked sarcastically.

He didn't know what the Slayer had to do with this girl and he really
didn't care.  When he finally stood in front of the girl, he was
amazed that she showed no signs of fear or unease.  This was going to
be almost too easy.  She was a pretty little thing.  If he weren't so
soddin' hungry, he'd take the time to play with her awhile, spice up
his meal a bit, make her cry.  It was always much more fun when they
cried.  But he was starving, almost weak with hunger, so he'd use
this little bit of a thing as an appetizer.  Wasn't enough of her to
make a proper meal.

"Well, Snackable, I can make it so you never have to go home again,"
he said to her in a deep growly voice.

She looked at him in confusion and before she could do more than
say, "What?" he grabbed her head, pulled it to the side and sank his
fangs deeply into her neck.

***

"It's past noon," Willow said to Tara in concern.  "Do you think we
should go wake up Buffy?"

Tara looked up from the sandwich she was making.  "No, sweetie, just
let her sleep.  She's had a rough couple days."  Crinkling her
forehead in a worried frown, she added, "I hope Spike's okay soon.
It's strange that the taser blast hurt him so badly."

Willow nodded.  "Yeah, that is strange.  I mean I know he was still
recovering from that sword wound, but you wouldn't think a taser
blast would put a vampire into a coma."

"Maybe he hit his head really hard on the ground when he fell?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Willow finished pouring juice into their glasses and the two girls
sat at the kitchen island enjoying their lunch and each other's
company.

***

Spike slunk back into alley as he watched the two young women amble
down the dark street.  Once eyebrow rose as he read the intimate body
language.  So, Red was playing with girls now.  That was a bit of a
surprise.  Not that he cared.  His head throbbed with pain and he was
ravenous, but a double dose of rich, warm feminine blood should fix
him right up.  They passed by the alley completely oblivious to his
presence.  Reaching out as they passed, he grabbed them and slammed
them full force against the wall of a building knocking the wind out
of both girls.

Before she had a chance to recover, he backhanded Willow across the
face knocking her out.  He wanted to take his time over her, so he
saved her for last.  Easily subduing the blonde, he quickly drained
her and discarded the body without a second glance.  Picking up
Willow, he gently slapped her face until she regained consciousness.
Her girlfriend had taken the edge off his appetite, and so he played
a bit with the young witch.  The scent of her terror made him hard,
but his burning hunger soon returned.  Giving into his need, he bit
deeply into her neck and supped until her heart faltered and stopped.

***

"Ahn, where did you want these again?"

"Third case from the left; top shelf."

Xander dragged the ladder across the floor to the correct display
case and carried the heavy statuette up the rungs with him.  After he
made sure it was securely placed, he climbed back down the ladder.
"I hope that was the last one," he said with a grunt.  "'Cause I
gotta tell you, those things are heavy."

"Fertility goddess," Anya said in a distracted voice.  "They always
have great heft."

Xander looked at the statue nervously.  He hoped the fertility didn't
rub off on him.  He wasn't ready to start a family yet.  Maybe in ten
years or so.  Maybe twenty.

Turning his mind to other things he asked, "You talk to Buffy or
Willow today?"

"No.  Why?"

"Just wondered how Buffy was doing.  And if Spike's out of his coma
yet."

"You're concerned about Spike?"

Xander frowned.  "It's not so much concern, Ahn, as confusion.  You
know a lot about vampires.  Is it normal for a vampire to go into a
coma?"

Anya thought about the questions for several seconds before she shook
her head.  "No, not really.  But then if he sustained brain damage in
some way, it would be logical that he go into a coma while he healed."

"Doesn't he need blood to heal?"

"He would certainly heal faster if he were eating, but he'll still
heal, just at a much slower rate."

Leaning up against the counter, Xander asked, "But how could he have
sustained brain damage?  Buffy said she was knocked out after I was
so she didn't know what happened to Spike, but I've seen Spike take
blows to the head that would have crushed a normal man's skull.  You
wouldn't think that he'd get brain damage from hitting his head on
the ground after getting shot by Warren's taser."

Anya shrugged.  "He probably tried to bite Warren again when he hurt
Buffy and the chip fried his brain."

Xander nodded slowly.  "Yeah, maybe that was it."  Still slightly
frowning, he left the counter to put away the ladder.

***

He looked through the shop window watching her as she counted out the
money from the till.  The agonizing pain in his head was making him
nauseous, which only added to the discomfort he was already feeling
from the gnawing hunger churning his gut.  She was a tempting morsel
and she was alone in the shop.  Easy pickings.  Grasping the
doorknob, he wrenched the door open and was across the shop and
behind the counter before the woman had much chance to react.

He felt better as the last rich mouthful slid down his throat.  He
just finished licking up the last drop when a car pulled up to the
curb outside the shop.  Slipping out of sight he watched Xander
Harris exit the car and head for the shop door.  Spike smiled at the
look of alarm on Xander's face when he noticed the broken door.  He
rushed into the shop calling the woman's name.  When he found her, he
fell to his knees and gathered her to him, sobbing and rocking as he
held her limp body tightly in his arms.  Well, well, so the Slayer's
boy knew the bint.  Bonus.

Xander didn't even notice Spike until the vampire grabbed him by the
hair and hauled him to his feet.  The fight was short and violent and
the conclusion inevitable.  Xander's broken body was thrown down to
lie next to the woman's.  Spike mopped a small trickle of blood from
the corner of his mouth with his thumb and then licked the thumb
clean.  Taking the money from the cash register, he swaggered from
the shop and into the night.

tbc...
 

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